EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE 7 



continental glaciers covered the northern parts of Europe and 

 North America, and the Recent Epoch, of more moderate climate 

 during which civilization has arisen. 



In the early part of the Quaternary Period, wild species of 

 Horse were to be found on every continent except Australia. 

 Remains of these true native horses ha\-e been found buried in 

 strata of this age in all parts of the United States, in Alaska, in 

 Mexico, in Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina, as well as in Europe, 

 Asia and Africa. All these horses were much like the living spe- 

 cies and most of theni are included in the genus Eqiiits. A 

 complete skeleton of one of them (Eqnus scotti) found by the 

 American .Museum expedition of iSgg in Northern Texas, is 

 mounted in the large wall-case. The difference between it and 

 the Domestic Horse (see framed diagram of modern horse skel- 

 eton) is chiefly in proportions, the skull shorter with deeper jaws, 

 the legs rather short and feet small in proportion to the body. 

 In these characters this fossil horse resembles an overgrown 

 zebra rather than a domestic horse. We know nothing of its 

 coloring. It may have been striped, and in this case would have 

 been very zebra-like; but there are some reasons for believing 

 that it was not prominently striped. The bones are petrified, 

 brittle and heavy, the animal matter of the bone having entirely 

 disappeared and having been partly replaced by mineral matter. 

 They are not much changed in color, howe\-er, and are so per- 

 fectly preserved that they look almost like recent bone. 



All the remains of these native horses which have been found 

 in America have been petrified more or less completely; tliis 

 means that they have been buried for many thousands of years, 

 for petrifaction is an exceedingly slow process.' It serv^es as an 

 easy method of distinguishing them from bones of the Domestic 

 Horse, found buried in the earth. These cannot in any case 

 have been buried for more than four or five centuries, and ha\-e 

 not had time to petrify. 



Remains of these fossil horses from various parts of the 



United States are shown in the counter-case. One very rich 



' The so-called petrifaction which occurs in some hot springs, coating 

 objects dipped into them with a white, stony coat of lime is nnt true jietrifaction. 

 In true petrifaction the substance of the bone is replaced particle by particle 

 with mineral matter. 



